Pixar and Disney had a whale of a hit with the theatrical release of
“Finding Nemo,” a tale that weds a classic tale of father and son
struggling against overwhelming odds to reunite with the indelible
Disney tradition of telling stories with animals as the main
characters. Here, our hero is Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks), a
little clownfish living in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Marlin has
been overprotective of his little spawn Nemo (voiced by Alexander
Gould) ever since the untimely death of his wife and 399 eggs in an
incident that occurs just offscreen in the opening sequence.

When Nemo tries to defy Marlin’s loving but stifling control, the young
fish is scooped up by a well-intentioned diver and winds up in a
decorative saltwater aquarium in a dentist’s waiting room. The
distraught Marlin sets off to rescue Nemo, although he’s got only the
vaguest notion of where his son might be. Along the way, Marlin
encounters foes and friends. Foremost among the latter is Dori (voiced
by Ellen DeGeneres), a chatty blue tang with severe short-term memory
loss. Meanwhile, Nemo’s new mates in the fishtank try to help him plan
an escape to the open ocean before he can be carried away by the
dentist’s awful fish-killing niece.

As is pointed out in the commentary, “Finding Nemo” demonstrates
breakthroughs in the CGI depiction of water, giving the interaction
between the characters and their environments a literally tangible
quality that is neither present nor required in stories that take place
on dry land. The storyline is charming, though a little less overtly
humorous than that of other Pixar offerings, since a parent seeking a
lost child (even when that parent is a nervous-wreck clownfish) tends
to play as serious business.

There’s also a rather unusual and unremarked-upon but prominent theme
of dealing with disabilities. Nemo is born with one front fin shorter
than the other and Dori seems mildly mentally handicapped – her
confusion is largely played for laughs, but it also has behavioral
earmarks that will be familiar to anyone who has dealt with humans who
have similar problems. We wind up empathizing with both Marlin’s
frustration with Dori and his guilt about that frustration, issues that
don’t customarily come up in quite this way in animated tales.

The notion of setting most of the story in and around Australia’s Great
Barrier Reef is inspired, making it natural for Marlin to encounter
such a wondrous array of sea creatures. There’s a lot of vocal
firepower in the cast – Brooks of course is perfectly utilized as a
champion fretter and DeGeneres excels at conveying Dori’s dogged if
slightly spacey optimism. There are other effective turns from Willem
Dafoe as a Moorish idol angelfish, Geoffrey Rush as a helpful pelican,
and Barry Humphries, Eric Bana and Bruce Spence as a trio of sharks who
have formed their own idiosyncratic version of a 12-step program for
deep-sea carnivores. Director Andrew Stanton amusingly and appealingly
contributes the voice of a mellow sea turtle who’s surfing the East
Australian current, and his co-writer Bob Peterson (the third writer on
the project is David Reynolds, with Stanton receiving sole story
credit) vocally plays a manta ray school teacher with a working-class
U.S. East Coast growl.

Picture and sound on the discs are gorgeous. As the introduction on
Disc Two points out (each disc comes with its own introduction), the
full-screen version, instead of chopping off the sides of the frame
from the theatrical version, instead fills up the top and bottom of the
screen with new animation. “Nemo” addicts will have a great time
tracking down all the new stuff – both prints are as pristine as can be
imagined. In sequences where light is coming down powerfully through
the water, the fish have an almost glowing, translucent quality (a goal
discussed by the animators on the commentary). The water itself has
unobtrusive but potent life throughout, both visually and sonically –
the rears ever-so-gently remind us we’re in the ocean, which has weight
and texture onscreen. Remember, folks, the water is CGI, not real, yet
it looks so authentic that we never really think about the work that
went into it (until we hear it discussed in the commentary).Chapter
3 is a wonderful riot of bright colors as the various fish of the reef
are introduced, darting in and out of the likewise vivid coral. Chapter
6 has a simply fantastic jump scare, though it should be said that the
CGI humans never come close to looking as realistic as the fish.
There’s also a great sound effect as a boat propeller creates a
backwash that kicks into the rears. Chapter 8, in which Marlin and Dori
encounter the sharks, who hang on in an undersea minefield, has some
wonderfully dimensional, resonant explosions, along with very solid and
hefty clangs as one of the sharks bangs into big metal pipes. Chapter 9
provides an immediate and impressive contrast, going from the
full-bodied oceanic action to soft Muzak (“The Girl From Ipanema,” to
be specific) heard distantly through the glass wall of a fishtank. In
Chapter 24, we feel as though we’re on the deck as a flock of birds
flaps by overhead, front to rears, and Chapter 25 has some
apocalyptically loud, fish-ear’s perspective on a fish hitting aquarium
glass. Thomas Newman’s, more gentle and haunting than is often the case
with animated work, is reminiscent of his likewise fluid (okay, pun
intended) and moving work on “Oscar and Lucinda.”

The
bonus content on widescreen Disc One is geared more toward adult
viewers (though kids will enjoy it), while Disc Two has material more
likely to appeal to youngsters (though grownups will like it, too).
Disc Two has Spanish and French dialogue tracks along with the original
English-language version, while Disc One is in English only. The
commentary track is on Disc One. Billed as a “video commentary,” it is
rather like a New Line Infinifilm disc, with the agreeable (for those
who like watching DVDs with their hands free) difference that the disc
automatically switches out of the main film to relevant video clips
without the viewer having to do anything. Director Stanton, co-director
Lee Unkrich and co-writer Peterson take us through an uncommonly
well-structured set of making-of sequences, which include everything
from showing a vigorous pitch session of the story for “Finding Nemo”
before an industry audience at the El Capitan Theatre in 2000 to a set
of contrasts showing how the faces of the Tiki gods in the fish tank
are actually patterned after specific Pixar employees. There’s a
startlingly touching tribute to late Pixar animator Glenn McQueen, and
an extolling of the virtues of both the audio mix on “Finding Nemo” and
having a good home sound system, things dear to the heart of
AudioRevolution.com readers. The commentary ends with a sweet
comparison between Marlin’s reluctance to let Nemo go and the
filmmakers’ feelings about putting their baby – that is, the film
itself – out into the world. The disc also has the option of playing
all of the video commentary, either as a full entity or in selected
chapters, without the film.

Disc One also has an intelligent making-of documentary, a “color
script” which has lovely conceptual art for all of the main sequences –
and a set of “video aquariums” that are either waiting to be brought to
life by an Easter Egg this reviewer couldn’t find or pretty but very
dull, uninhabited CGI seascapes.

Disc Two has an “Exploring the Reef” feature that incorporates the CGI
characters with footage of real fish – and shows off superstar
oceanographer Jean-Michel Cousteau as a true good sport as he plays
opposite the voices of Brooks, DeGeneres and Gould, all interrupting
him at every turn. Playful feel aside, Cousteau gets to make some
points about the ecosystem and conservation, put in terms that even
children will understand. “Mr. Ray’s Encyclopedia” has nice clips of
various sea creatures (we meet their CGI versions in the film) and
brief tidbits about their habits. Young actor Gould hosts a
kid-friendly tour of Pixar, there’s a nice
comprehension/reflexes-testing game for youngsters, a storytime feature
and more video aquariums that, this time, feature CGI fish.

“Finding Nemo” is physically beautiful, aurally impressive and
emotionally moving. It’s not quite as funny as the promos suggest, but
this is in keeping with the film’s premise – it’s not necessary to be
safe or to do what’s expected in order to be fulfilled and fulfilling.